Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 20:37:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Cory Noone <noonecory@yahoo.com>
Subject: Through the Mirror chapter 8

All characters, places, and events are fictional and belong to the author.

Disclaimer: The following may contain explicit events between consenting
adult males.  If you are not of age or it is illegal for you to read this,
please do not read any further.

Chapter Eight:

"So where have you two been for the last few days?" Cercae asked.

Aeleon sipped his fizz chizz before replying, "Holed up in my rooms."

A suggestive, lopsided smile crawled its way across Cercae's face before
Trey could specify, "He's been teaching me how to read and write."

"Well, that's boring," Cercae quipped, "The both of you disappear for days
and all you did was learn?  What a waste."

"Do you ever think of anything else?" Aeleon scoffed.

Trey chuckled and stirred the thick stew that had been haphazardly plopped
in front of him by an extremely harried looking middle-aged woman
attempting to serve half the pub.  He, Aeleon, and Cercae had headed over
to the pub, along with several council members, once the meeting had
adjourned.  The three of them were sitting at their usual table,
occasionally waving at people they knew and conversing briefly if someone
should come and sit down in the spare seat at their four person table.
Trey had been here several times by now and his enjoyment of the place grew
with each visit.  It was always clean.  The food was always plentiful and
delicious.  A smiling server brought it to him when it was still hot.  To
him it was the complete antithesis of his life as a slave.  He had begun to
cherish the times he and Aeleon came there.

Trey spooned a piece of meat into his mouth.  It occurred to him that he
probably had no idea what animal it was from, or what the animal even
looked like.  That was one thing he had learned since waking up on Oelae.
While things might appear to be familiar, the chances were high that he was
dealing with unfamiliar territory.  If Trey had to guess, he would have
said it was beef.  It was tender and juicy and reminded him distinctly of a
good pot roast; however, he had also seen a few livestock animals of Oelae
and they were not the same as the animals on Zelzior.  Oh well.  It tasted
good and he supposed that was the important part.

"Trey, why are you staring at your stew like that?" Aeleon asked, perplexed
by the odd look on Trey's face.

Trey looked up, snapped from his musings at Aeleon's question, and offered
a smile with a quick, "No particular reason."

"Ael, what's it to you if Trey looks at his food like he wants to eat it
for lunch?" Cercae teased.

"Ha-ha," Aeleon replied, rolling his eyes.

It was this sort of banter that Trey loved.  He had not experienced
anything of this nature since Zeke and Calen had died.  This feeling of
friendship, togetherness, and acceptance.  Despite his initial misgivings
about Cercae, the flirty Oelean had proven to be a good friend to Aeleon
and, by extension, to Trey.  He was fun and down to earth and never made
Trey feel inferior in spite of his immense lack of knowledge of Oelean
culture.

"So what are you guys planning to do for the rest of the day?" Cercae
questioned, "The meeting got done relatively quickly.  We have most of the
day to spare."

"We were probably going to go and study more," Aeleon replied.

"Oh, come on Ael!  Taking a one day break wouldn't kill you.  Besides, Trey
has been here for about a week now and all he has seen is the castle and
part of the city.  Don't you want to show him what else Oelae has to
offer?"

"It's up to Trey," Aeleon said, "If he's fine with taking a break, I am."

"Me?" Trey faltered, distinctly uncomfortable with being asked to
dictate. Twenty years of always being told what to do meant that he was
often taken off guard when asked to make a decision.

"Come on, Trey!  We could go to Mossae Maere," pleaded Cercae.

"What's Mossae Maere?"

"In your language it translates to Green Sea," Aeleon said fondly, "It's
not actually a sea.  Just a really big lake.  It's fantastic though.
There's this cove with a little waterfall that makes the water all bubbly
and a couple of hot springs filter warm water up through the rocks.  It's
the best swimming hole in the world."

Truth be told, Trey had no idea how to swim, but it was obvious to him that
Aeleon loved the place and clearly wanted to go.  In the time since he had
come to Oelae, Trey had found that he really enjoyed making Aeleon happy.
What other response could he have than, "I don't see why we shouldn't go
today.  We've been working hard."

"Yes!  I'll go and find everybody else.  Meet me at the garage in half an
hour," Cercae exclaimed, jumping from his seat and tossing money in the
general direction of the table before running out the door.

"The garage?" Trey asked.

A mischievous glint appeared in Aeleon's eye to match his smile as he
asked, "Have you ever driven a zoom-bike?"

+++++

Twenty five minutes later, Trey and Aeleon were standing outside the huge
bay doors of a large structure on the southern side of the castle.  People
came and went in a steady stream, both on foot and riding zoom-bikes.
Every now and then a whistle could be heard from the not so distant race
track where the fastest zoom-bikes in Oelae were pitted against each other,
shortly followed by a loud cheer from what sounded like a very sizable
crowd.  The low whirring of the many ion thrusters powering the bikes
resonated from every direction.  All of it was enough to get the blood
pumping.

"We'll wait for Cercae and the others to get here and then we'll go inside
and pick bikes," Aeleon said, scanning the crowd in much the same manner as
Trey.

"We need bikes to get there?" Trey asked.

"Yes.  Mossae Maere is at the foot of the mountains outside of town.
That's at least thirty miles from here," Aeleon replied, trying to pick the
faces of his friends out from those of the strangers around him.

Trey did not respond to that.  He merely went back to watching as another
zoom-bike raced out of the bay doors and sped into the distance.  He had
seen zoom-bikes before, several times in fact.  Usually they were driven by
an uncaring Cubrecht though, who nearly ran him over rather than bother
themselves to swerve out of the way.  These mechanical means of conveyance
were not for slaves to use.  In fact, Trey had never seen a slave astride a
zoom-bike in his entire life.  Why provide a slave with a potential means
of escape?  The machines had always fascinated him though.  They hovered
about two feet off the ground and the ion thrusters glowed the most
alluring shade of blue.  He knew many Cubrecht spent a lot of money to make
their bike faster, more powerful, or able to operate at a longer range.
That didn't change the fact that he had never ridden on one though, let
alone driven one.  Trey would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't
 looking forward to the experience.

As Trey watched a couple ride back into the garage to return their
zoom-bike, Cercae approached them.  Close on his heels were Shoori, Josh,
Braeyon, and a man Trey had yet to meet.  Stunning was the only appropriate
word to use to describe him.  Dark navy blue hair cascaded down his back in
shining waves to match the elegantly arched eyebrows and long eye lashes.
The pale skin so typical of the Oelean people positively glowed in the
midday light.  His jaw tapered to an appealing pointed chin and high cheek
bones underlined his speckled forest green eyes.  Trey wondered who this
man was, but when he turned to Aeleon to ask he noticed that his diminutive
friend was not smiling.

"Sorry," Trey heard Cercae whisper, "He was in the solarium when I found
Shoori and heard me inviting her to come with us.  Once he found out you
were going, nothing I could say would dissuade him."

Aeleon made a very rude sound in his throat, but managed to force a smile
to his face when the rest of the group caught up.  Aeleon's attitude
greatly confused Trey, who had not seen him be anything other than pleasant
and friendly towards everyone they had come in contact with since he had
come through the mirror.  In Trey's opinion, it didn't say much about the
man's character if Aeleon didn't like him.

Shoori greeted them both with a kiss to the cheek and said, "Hello boys.
Ready for some swimming?"

"Definitely," Aeleon replied, smiling genuinely now.

"Then let's get to it," Cercae said, clapping his hands together and
leading the troupe into the building that housed the zoom-bikes.

Trey had never seen so many bikes in one place before, nor had he seen so
many different models.  Some were new and shining, while others were rusted
and dirty, obviously neglected.  There were bikes with covered cabins
capable of seating four or five people, which Trey assumed were primarily
family vehicles.  Alternately, there were many sleek bikes made for single
riders and racing.  He also noticed bulkier models that were probably the
most useful on rocky, uneven terrain.  If a particular trait was needed in
a bike, it seemed an appropriate bike could be found here.

"Who do all of these belong to?" he asked, awestruck.

"A lot of different people," Aeleon informed him as the strolled down
another row of bikes, "This garage houses most of the bikes of all the
people who live in the castle, hired help and nobles alike.  My fathers own
a dozen or so by themselves.  Granted, most were inherited or given as
gifts, but it is not uncommon for one of the nobles to own several bikes."

"So how're we doing this?" Braeyon asked, "Are we all going in one of the
big bikes, or are we taking our own?"

Everyone knew that Braeyon just wanted to drive.  At sixteen years old, he
had recently acquired his license to operate a zoom-bike by himself.
Compared to the others who were a couple years older and had been driving
for a few years at that point, the novelty of it had not yet worn off for
Braeyon.

A bubble of fondness welling in his chest for his cousin, Aeleon suggested,
"Well, there are seven of us.  Why don't you take your new bike and the
rest of us will go on two seaters?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Braeyon sprinted off to his own bike and jammed a
helmet on top of his mop of curly hair.  The familiar rush of adrenaline
tingled through his body as he threw his leg over the seat and pressed the
start button.  His heart raced as the thruster hummed to life, lifted the
bike off the ground, and cast a strong blue glow across the floor and onto
the surrounding bikes.

"What are you guys waiting for?" he impatiently questioned, "Pair off and
let's go!"

Shoori and Cercae linked hands and headed towards Shoori's two person bike.
Aeleon was about to grab Trey and pull the Zelzian towards his own bike
when the stunning man wrapped his fingers around Aeleon's elbow and said,
"Io coigitae waes apotii vaexi una."

Aeleon narrowed his eyes and stepped away from the man's grip before
saying, "I'm sure you've heard about Trey, Cynom.  You should know that he
doesn't speak Oelean.  Courtesy would dictate that you speak in a language
he can understand when in his presence."

"Oh," the man said as if he had just noticed Trey towering over Aeleon's
shoulder, "So you're Trey.  I'm Cynom."

Trey ducked his head in acknowledgement, but neglected to say anything.  He
couldn't help but feel that Cynom had been intentionally rude to him in
speaking Oelean as if Trey was not there.  And his supposed surprise at
Trey's presence?  In a land in which Trey had observed that he was
generally a good ten inches taller than most of the men there, it seemed
very unlikely to him that Cynom had truly only just realized he had been
standing there.  While part of him wanted to be annoyed at this treatment,
the other part of him still thought in the manner of a slave and felt that
he had no right to be irritated that one of his betters would treat him so.

"So, what do you say," Cynom asked, "Trey can go with Josh and you and I
can ride together."

"No thanks," Aeleon quipped, grabbing Trey's wrist and pulling him in the
direction of a shiny, chrome bike.  He grabbed a helmet off a wall hook and
tossed it to Trey, turning to grab a second helmet and push it over his
head.

"Do you know how to drive one of these?" he asked Trey.

"I've never even ridden on one before," Trey informed him, fumbling with
the strap on his helmet.

"We'll have fun then.  Just hold onto me and enjoy the ride," Aeleon told
the Zelzian, flashing him a bright smile.  That smile helped to diffuse
some of the tension that had creeped into Trey's shoulders at the apparent
dislike Aeleon felt for Cynom.

Aeleon threw his leg over his bike and settled into the seat.  Trey
followed Aeleon's example and plonked himself down behind the other man and
dangled his arms awkwardly by his side.  Aeleon depressed the ignition
button, flicked his eye visor down, and twisted around to face Trey.  Trey
gave the Oelean a questioning look when Aeleon reached up to flick his own
visor down and grab Trey's hands to place them on his slight waist.

"We'll be going pretty fast," Aeleon said, "We don't want you losing an eye
if we should kick up some debris.  Don't be afraid to hold onto me.  I've
seen people fall off the back of one of these things before and it isn't
pretty.  Ready to go?"

Before Trey could protest, Aeleon turned back around and urged the bike
forward into the aisle.  Aeleon threw a wave towards the rest of their
group to signal that they were ready to go and slowly weaved his bike
between the other patrons and out the bay door.  As they emerged into the
fresh air and sunlight of the open castle grounds, Aeleon angled towards
the road where other zoom-bikes were traversing the streets.  Trey was
amazed.  He had never gotten anywhere as fast as they were traveling on the
zoom-bike.  His head was in constant motion, whipping around in every
direction as they wound through the city's main thoroughfare.  This was
Trey's first real tour of the city and it fascinated him.  The air of
oppression that seemed to hang over Crion was absent here.  For the most
part, people seemed to be happy and well-fed.  Crion couldn't be termed
anything other than grimy and even the non-slaves couldn't really be termed
happy.  In
 the twenty years since the Cubrecht had come, many of the buildings had
started to fall into disrepair.  It was a stark contrast to the well
maintained stores and houses and shining streets of Adaemantys, the capital
city of Oelae.

Trey hoped that maybe he could explore a bit more of the city in the coming
days.  It was beginning to sink in that he was actually free and could do
as he wished and even though he didn't have any money to speak of, Trey
felt it would be still be fun to wander around the marketplace and enjoy
the novelty of the experience.  Maybe Aeleon would take him in the next
couple of days.  He was sure the prince knew the best places to go.

Too soon for Trey's liking, they reached the walls of the city and stopped
for a brief check at the gatehouse.  While foot traffic was free to come
and go from the city as they pleased, zoom-bikes and other motorized
transport were typically checked.  Trey figured they would have to dismount
their bike along with everyone else waiting in line to leave the city, but
Aeleon flashed the guard a nod and a smile and the stern looking, armored
Oelean waved them and the rest of their group on through the gate.
Apparently the crown prince got a free pass.

Aeleon pulled to the side and waited for the other three vehicles in their
party to pass through the gate.  Once all of them were on the other side of
the wall, he turned to Trey and said, "Hold on tight now.  Now that we're
out of the city, we can go as fast as we want."

Trey was still surprised, however, when Aeleon gunned the thruster and shot
forward at an alarming rate.  He would have tumbled end over end off of the
back of the bike, but for that he managed to clench his arms around
Aeleon's waist before he ended up in the dirt.  The Zelzian made the
mistake of looking down at the ground rushing below his feet.  If he had
thought he had been moving fast in town, it was nothing compared to the way
they were moving now.  The sight of the landscape moving by him so quickly
was enough to make him a little bit ill.  He couldn't help but bury his
eyes into the soft fabric of Aeleon's shirt and hold a little more tightly
to his waist.

"Look up!" he heard Aeleon shout an undeterminable time later.  He felt
Trey shaking his head where it was buried in the middle of his back.

"Really, Trey.  Look up!" he yelled again, struggling to be heard over the
wind rushing passed them.

Trey peeked over Aeleon's shoulder and his breath caught at what he saw.
They were flying through the middle of a gargantuan field, tall grass
parting before snapping back together in their wake.  The grass formed a
sea of shining silver for miles, waving back and forth in the gentle wind,
until it gave way to massive craggy mountains in the distance.  The sharp,
snow covered points were a stark contrast to the light purple hued sky and
billowing puffy clouds.  Dog sized furred creatures with giant leathery
wings soared through the sky, plunging to the ground every now and then
only to pull up with something wriggling in its grasp.  Lanky grazing
animals sprung through the grass in leaps and bounds, their gray striped
hides providing camouflage amidst the swaying vegetation.  To Trey, it was
stunning.  For a man who had never been more than ten feet outside of the
city walls of Crion, being surrounded by so much space and so far from any
 manmade structure was a new experience for him.  His eyes greedily drank
in the terrain they passed, even more so than when they rode through the
market in town.  His wonder and interest in the world around him alleviated
any fear he had of how fast they were moving.  Trey noticed Braeyon pulling
along beside them, his long green hair whipping out behind him, most of it
having escaped the braid he usually kept it in.

The sound partially obscured by the wind, Trey heard the young Oelean
shout, "Want to race?"

Aeleon's only response was to deliver more power to the thrusters and pull
in front of him.  Now that Trey had gotten somewhat used to riding on the
zoom-bike, the burst of speed exhilarated him rather than frightened him.
The sight of the open space and the feeling of the rate at which they were
zooming across the plain joined with the sight of his new friends zooming
along behind and beside him infused him with a feeling of abject joy.  Trey
had never in his life felt so free and liberated.  The emotion released
itself as he threw his head back and expelled a stentorian shriek of
rapture.  All too soon he could feel the bike begin to slow as they
approached the foothills of the mountains.

"We have to slow down here," Aeleon turned to tell him, "Once you get
passed the plains, the terrain is too unpredictable to safely go at those
kinds of speeds."

"Alright.  How much farther is it?" Trey asked.

"Not far.  Maybe ten minutes.  Once we crest this hill you can actually see
the lake.  The cove we want is on the far side, near the base of the
mountain."

Trey didn't see any of the others.  He assumed it was because they had
pulled so far ahead in their impromptu race.  It filled him with a sense of
satisfaction to know that they had won, and not by a small amount either.

"Where did you learn to drive like that?"

Aeleon chuckled before replying, "I've been driving these things since I
was about twelve.  The legal age is sixteen, but I won't say I've never
abused my status of the crown prince before.  I used to sneak down to the
garage all the time and, let's face it, none of the guards were going to
arrest me for driving under age.  Used to give my dad's heart attacks
though."

"I would love to learn to drive one of these one day," Trey said wistfully.

"I'll teach you soon.  It's not a bad idea for you to be able to get around
by yourself.  I want for you to be able to depend on yourself and not be
reliant on me to do things and go places."

This statement, more than anything else Aeleon had done, proved to Trey
that Aeleon truly wanted him to be free and to become his own man.
Granted, he had no money of his own to buy a bike, but one step at a time
he would build a life.  Maybe once they had cleared up the mystery of his
power, he could use it in a job to earn a wage.  Trey had no intention of
surviving off of the crown's kindness for the rest of his life, even if he
was sure Aeleon and his fathers would have been perfectly willing to allow
it.  No, he had no problem with working, but he was definitely looking
forwards to being paid for it and to working the job of his choosing.

Aeleon was just happy they had taken this break today.  When he had heard
Trey's excited shout in the middle of the field, he knew it had been the
right decision.  Despite the fact that Trey was obviously happy to not be a
slave anymore, Aeleon knew that the past few days had been difficult for
him.  There had always been a shadow of unease in the Zelzian's eyes as he
tried to find his place in a completely new world, plus the added stress of
being unable to identify his power and the fact that he'd had to leave
behind everyone he knew and be thrown into a class of people he felt
unequal to.  Aeleon felt that a day like today was exactly what Trey
needed.

Gradually they crested the hill and Trey could see the entirety of the
lake.  It spread out for miles, the wavering green surface sloppily
reflecting the backdrop of the mountains.  The surrounding land looked lush
and full of life.  Trey supposed the waters would be filled with fish and
mused that he would like to try his hand at trying to catch some of those
fish at some point, now that he had the option.  He looked behind them to
see Braeyon a bit farther down the hill, and Shoori and Josh at the base.
He noticed that the previously uniform covering of grass was beginning to
give way to brush and small trees.

After a few minutes, he and Aeleon made it to the tree line and crossed
into the forest.  The trees were behemoths, hundreds of years old at least.
Their trunks were covered in nearly black bark that twisted and curled its
way up and around the tree.  Limbs reached out like gnarled hands, covered
with blue and green leaves.  The way the sun dappled through the leaves
left a very surreal and otherworldly atmosphere in the woods.  A path had
been made here, but whether by human design or animals picking their way
through the trees Trey couldn't tell.  At this point the zoom bike was
moving slowly, barely faster than a person could walk, as it Aeleon picked
his way along the path.  The machines couldn't handle the rougher terrain
found in forests very well and the path was the only reason the bike had
not yet become useless in this environment.  Trey figured they couldn't be
that far from their destination.  If they continued much farther,
 they would have to get off the bike and walk.

Just as Trey thought this, they rounded a curve in the path and Aeleon
turned to say, "Welcome to Mossae Maere."

To be continued...

Author's Note: After a pretty big gap, I've finally updated again.
Hopefully I still have some readers left.  I hope you guys enjoyed this
chapter.  I tried to use it to introduce Oelae a bit more.  If you have any
thoughts on the story, I'd love to hear them.  Shoot me an e-mail at
noonecory@yahoo.com.

Io coigitae waes apotii vaexi una.= I thought we could ride together.